Film

Tandy Culpepper Talks To Carlos Diehz About His Unlikely Co-Starring Turn In Best Picture Nominee Conclave

What if someone told you that, in spite of never having been in a studio movie of any kind, you would be co-starring with acting heavyweights such as Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, and Isabella Rossellini in a film that would be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards?

That’s what happened to 54-year-old Carlos Diehz, a Mexican architect who turned to acting as a hobby after his last child flew the nest for college.

Diehz, who moved to Canada, first to Winnipeg before settling in Vancouver 12 years ago, got an acting coach who then paired him with an agent. According to Diehz, 60 auditions followed without success. But then lightning struck when the filmmakers behind Conclave put out a worldwide casting call: They needed to fill an important role in this picture that depicts what happens in the Catholic Church when the sitting pope dies or resigns.

Tandy talks with Carlos about his remarkable journey from audition on day one to the Oscars as a cast member of Best Picture nominee, Conclave.

Published by Tandy Culpepper

I am a veteran broadcast journalist. I was an Army brat before my father retired and moved us to the deep South. I'm talkin' Lower Alabama and Northwest Florida, I graduated from Tate High School and got botha Bachelor's degree and Master's in Teaching English from the University of West Florida, I taught English at Escambia County High School for two years before getting my m's in Speech Pathology and Audiology from Auburn University. Following graduation, I did a 180 degree turn and moved to Birmingham where I began ny broadcasting career at WBIQ, Channel 10. There I was host of a weekly primetime half-hour TV program called Alabama Lifestyles. A year later, I began a stint as a television weathercaster and public affairs host. A year later, I moved to West Palm Beach, Florida and became bureau chief at WPTV, the CBS affiliate. Two years later, I moved to Greensboro, North Carolina where I became co-host of a morng show called AM Carolina. The next year, I moved cross-country and became co-host and story producer at KTVN-TV in Reno, Nevada. I also became the medical reporter for the news department. Three years later, I moved to Louisville, Kentucky and became host and producer of a morning show called today in WAVE Country at WAVE-TV, Channel 3, the NBC affiliate. Following three years there, I moved to Los Angeles and became senior correspondent at the Turner Entertainment Reportn, an internationally-syndicated entertainment entertainment news service owned by CNN. I went back to school afterwards and got an MFA in Creative Nonfiction at Goucher College in Towson, Maryland, a suburb of Baltimore. Oh, yes. I won a hundred thousand dollars on the 100 Thousand Dollar Pyramid, then hosted by Dick Clark.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *